Return to Sender (27 page)

“Okay, get your tail downstairs before you really lose it.”

Downstairs, she spied Evan in the hotel lobby, and her heart started a wild dance in her chest.
Damn, he’s good-looking.
She ad mired him, loved the way he treated her and Will. But most of all she admired the fact that he respected her. The feeling was new, unique to her, coming from a man. She was sorry her mother hadn’t lived to find someone who loved and cherished her the way she de served to be. But that was the past, and as good old Jack always said, “The past is prologue, kiddo.”

“You’d give Julia Roberts a run for her money. You’re the prettiest woman I’ve seen all day. All week. Ever. Come here.” Evan wrapped his arms around her, nuzzling her neck.

“You better stop, or we won’t make it to dinner. Then I’ll have wasted three thousand bucks on this sexy dress, which I want you to become familiar with later. The zippers and clasps, to be precise.”
My God, did I just say that out loud?
she thought. Her face flushed to a rosy hue, and she laughed, the sound tinkling across the lobby. Evan grinned from ear to ear.

They both had the prime rib for dinner with wasabi mashed potatoes and a Caesar salad. Evan ordered a bottle of wine, but Lin passed on it, explaining that wine gave her a headache.

They spent the night in each other’s arms, and when Evan left to go to the hospital, Lin relished the scent he left behind. She slept for two more hours before getting up to meet the day and whatever it was going to hold for her and her son.

The day she’d been dreading had finally arrived, but she knew that Evan would be available if she needed him.

She dressed in jeans and a bright red sweater to match her bright red fingernails. She didn’t want to look too made up for fear both Nick and Will would think she was trying to make an impression.

Her cell phone rang. “Hello?”

“I’m making sure you’re up. I know Evan spent the night at the hotel.”

“Of course I’m up, and how do you know Evan spent the night?”

“He told me when he called two minutes ago.”

“Oh.”

“I’ll meet you at the hospital in an hour. You sure you’re okay with this?” Will asked his mother for the hundredth time.

“I’m fine. I’ll see you in an hour.”

Lin snapped the phone off, grabbed her purse and the messenger bag that she’d carried with her for so many years. Forty-five minutes later she was waiting in the main lobby of Presbyterian Hospital, after having stopped off for a minute at Evan’s empty office. Will burst through the glass doors like his pants were on fire.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

“Yeah, I screwed up and had the taxi drop me off on the wrong block. I ran so I wouldn’t be late.”

“Take a deep breath and relax, because we don’t have an appointment. We have as much time as we need. Remember, this was your idea to come here so early. Before you say anything, I know it’s your first day of Christmas break and you want to enjoy every last minute of each day.”

“I did say that, didn’t I?” Will laughed at her words

“At least twenty times. Catch your breath and comb your hair. I know this day has been a long time coming, Will. I’m still sad that it came to this, but I can’t change my life. I don’t think I would if I could.”

“Me either, Mom. No matter what happens upstairs, I want you to know that you’ve been the best mom and dad a guy could want. Don’t cry. You’ll ruin that mascara you wear all the time now.”

Lin sniffed and dabbed at her eyes with a tissue. “Let’s go meet your father.”

Neither spoke on the elevator ride, each lost in memories of what was and what would be. The silver doors swished open. Lin took Will’s hand and gave it a squeeze. He squeezed back.

Together they walked down the dim hallway. When they reached room 267, they stopped outside the door.

Will leaned over and whispered, “You don’t think this’ll shock him into a heart attack or anything, do you?”

“No, not at all. Evan said it wouldn’t affect his health. So before you chicken out, I think you should walk in first. Okay?”

Will nodded and slowly pushed the heavy door inward. Lin remained in the open doorway, where she could watch her son meet his father for the first time.

Will looked like a little boy on his first day of school. He glanced in her direction, his eyes pleading for guidance.

She nodded. “Go on,” she whispered.

He walked back to the doorway, where she stood. “I want you with me.”

He wasn’t so big, after all, Lin thought, suddenly glad that he’d asked her to share this moment with him.

Together they walked toward Nick’s bed. He appeared to be sleeping.

“Maybe we shouldn’t wake him,” Will whispered.

“And maybe you should,” Nick said. He rolled over in bed, then pushed himself into an upright position. Even though he was critically ill, he was still as handsome as ever. “You all must have the wrong room. Sorry.” He laughed, and Lin smiled herself.

“I don’t think so.”

Nick looked at her,
really
looked at her. Then he looked at Will. “Do I know you? I’ve seen you before. It’s the eyes.” He shook his head from side to side. “No, that’s impossible.”

“What do you mean, that’s impossible?” Lin asked, her heart throbbing in her throat.

“Look, you’re in the wrong room,” Nick replied. “I wish you were in the right room.”

Nick stared at her as though he was trying to figure out where he’d seen her. Lin wanted him to figure it out, felt a small perverse delight in watching him.

Lin waited for Will to speak up, but he seemed to be in a state of semishock. “Dr. Reeves gave us your room number. He told us to visit.”

“What are you? A brother and sister comedy team?” Nick asked with a hint of a smile.

Whatever had Will in such a strong hold broke loose, because he burst out laughing. “Did you say brother and sister?”

“Yeah, so?” Nick asked, joining Will in his fit of laughter, not sure why, other than that young people’s laughter was contagious.

“Sir, this woman is my mother.”

“Will, this isn’t the way it’s supposed to be. You’re an adult, remember?” Lin was about ready to start laughing herself.

“I’ll tell you what would be nice. Want to hear it?” Nick addressed the two of them.

“Sure,” Lin said. “I’m waiting.”

“Just tell me what you want,” Nick said. “Did Chelsea put you up to this? I swear, I rue the day I married that woman. She’s been nothing but an albatross around my neck from day one, but you don’t need to hear all that.”

“Who is Chelsea?” Lin asked, even though she knew who she was since she’d had the pleasure of pushing her around Manhattan in a wheelchair.

“Unfortunately, or fortunately, as the case may be, she’s my wife,” Nick said. “You’re sure she didn’t send you here to lace my morning tea with Ambien again? If she did, rest assured I won’t let her off so easy this time. Or you,” he added ominously.

Lin winced. They’d made him angry, and that wasn’t in the plan. According to Evan, anger wasn’t good for his patient. “Look, Nick, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have allowed this silly banter to continue,” Lin said.

“You know me!” Nick said, sounding surprised at the use of his name. “I think I’ve seen you somewhere. Have we met? And you.” He turned to Will. “You remind me of someone, too.”

Lin and Will glanced at one another.

Lin had hoped Nick would recognize her, but he hadn’t, and at this point in time it was okay. She thought she’d be embarrassed with Will observing her, but she wasn’t. If anything, Lin thought Nick was a bit embarrassed himself because he couldn’t recall how he knew either of them, or if he did at all.

Taking a deep breath, Lin took a step toward the bed, moving closer so that Nick might instantly remember her from that infamous party all those years ago. “My name is Lin Townsend, and this is my son, William Michael. We call him Will.”

“Okay,” Nick said, his eyes darting back and forth between them.

Not wanting to drag the moment out any longer than she had already, Lin took a deep breath, squared her shoulders, and looked Nick dead in the eyes. “We met at a party in Atlanta almost twenty years ago.” Lin paused, then continued. “Will is your son.”

There. Done. Out in the open. No more lies.
I can do this,
she told herself.
I
am
doing this.

“The girl with the silver eyes! I remember you. You were the math whiz,” Nick said, awe ringing in his voice. “Did I hear you say this boy is
my son?
You gave birth to my son, and you never told me! For God’s sake, why?”

Lin almost fainted. He
did
know her! And he was acting like he didn’t know about Will, and if he didn’t know about Will, then he had never received her letters. She had to say something, and say it immediately, that very second. “The one and only.” That was certainly clever, she thought.

Nick dragged his eyes away from Lin to look at the boy again. “How old are you?”

“Nineteen come January,” said Will.

“And what do you want now, after all these years?” Nick asked. “Not that I’m offering anything.”

Lin’s eyes narrowed. How like him to reduce this to money. “Actually, we don’t
need
or
want
anything
from you.
It’s way too late for that, anyway. You see, I’ve been carrying these goddamned stupid letters around in my bag for nineteen years! I had a wild hair crawl up my ass the other day and decided I’d hand-deliver them. Here.” Lin tossed the messenger bag at him, hitting him in the chest. She didn’t care how crude or crass she was coming across as. Nick Pemberton was a royal bastard, just like his father. How dare he assume she’d brought Will there to ask for something?

“Mom, the man is sick,” Will cried out. “Watch what you say. Calm down.” He was stunned at his mother’s words, his mother, who never ever said one bad word to or about anyone.

“I don’t have to watch my mouth, Will. Mr. Pemberton is still a bastard, sick or not,” Lin said, her anger red hot. “He hasn’t changed one iota. Everything in his whole life has been reduced to a dollar sign. How dare you even assume we came here to ask for something? I wouldn’t take anything from you even if you offered me my weight in gold. What do you think of that, you son of a bitch!” Lin shrieked.

“You’re for real, aren’t you? This isn’t some hokey, cockamamy scam. Damn, this is truly for real. Come over here, Will. Sit down and let me look at you.” Nick ignored Lin’s outburst.

Will walked closer to the bed. Lin felt like she was in some stupid grade-B movie, and any minute she would walk out of the theater, wondering what had made her go see the silly thing in the first place. Nope, this was for real. Big-time.

“Seen enough?” she shrieked again. “He looks just like you. His DNA will match yours, as would that of any son and his father.”

“I believe you, Lin. Cut me a little slack here. You just invaded my world and threw me a whammy I never expected. My body might be fading away, but my memory is still pretty sharp. I recall our time together. I often wondered what had happened to you. I tried to call you a few times. You were never home. I guess it was your mother who took my calls. She kept asking me to stop calling, so I did. I figured you didn’t want to talk to me and were simply using your mother to deliver the message.”

Lin almost collapsed in a heap on the floor. She would have if Will hadn’t reached across Nick’s bed and grabbed her arm.

Somehow Lin found her voice. “Did you read my letters, Nick? Please don’t lie to me. I need to know the truth. Did you read those letters?” She nodded toward the pile of letters heaped across the bed.

“I never read your letters, Lin, because I never received any letters.”

“Look at them now! Go on. I need to see you do this. Please,” she added as an afterthought.

“All right. Sure.” Nick took several of the letters and scanned the envelopes, then placed them on the sheet next to him. “Who told you my address? I don’t remember giving it to you.”

Will was spellbound watching the interchange between his mother and the man she said was his father. He felt like he was at a tennis match.

“Nancy Johnson. You introduced me to her at the party,” said Lin.

“I don’t recognize her name, but regardless, this isn’t my address. That’s why I never got them, Lin. Because they’re marked ‘return to sender.’ Look.” Nick motioned for her to look closely at the fading print on the yellowed envelope. “Address unknown.”

Speechless. Now she truly understood the meaning of the word.

Lin felt so light-headed, she had to reach for the bar on the side of the bed to remain upright. “I can’t believe after carrying these around for more than half my life, that I missed those two little words. ‘Address unknown.’”

Images swirled through Lin’s head. She could not identify any of them. Her only thought was that Jason had been right, after all, except it hadn’t been Nick’s father who had kept the letters from him. It had been the United States Postal Service. And herself. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. And one more STUPID with capital letters.

“You really called?” That was probably the stupidest question she could ask, but it was the only one she could think of.

“I have no reason to lie to you. I think I called seven or eight times. Different times of the day, in the hopes of catching you in.”

To think she’d carried around this hate for Nick all these years. He really
hadn’t
had a clue that he’d had a son! He
hadn’t
tossed her and Will aside like dirty water. He had tried to call.

“So where do we go from here? It’s going to take some time for this to sink in. Sally is going to shit when I tell her,” said Lin.

“Mom, stop talking like that! Mothers shouldn’t…curse.”

Suddenly Lin felt like an ornery schoolgirl. “Shit, shit, shit, and piles of shit. Loads of shit, dump trucks full of shit. There! How’d that sound, Will? Don’t you ever tell me what to do and what not to do. I am your mother, and if I want to say ‘Shit,’ I will say ‘Shit.’”

Nick laughed so hard, he became short of breath. “Shit,” he gasped. “The most famous and used word in the English language.